Auto signal



May 14, 1929.

W. RIEFSCHNIDER AUTO SIGNAL Filed May 14, 1925 H HflJITZ M S EATTUQE X2f 2 n m [EWAEHUNETIDJN INVENTOR Wa/fr 4%]576/7/7/4? 7 W ATTORNEYliatenterl May 14, 1929.

WALTER RIEFSCHNIDER, Q15 lllfillliflfh AUTO IE, WAfifl'r'llINGTON.

EiIlIGHAL Application filed 14, 7.9235. Serial No. 30,166.

The invention is a motor vehicle rear si nal having a casing" in whichthe license plate tail light, stop signal, direction signals and,nan'ies oi the car and home city ot' the vehicle may be placed in such amanner that light may shine through all of the above devices as desired.

'lhe object o'l the invention is to provide a rear signal which combinesall 01. the signals used on n'iotor vehicles w l the license plat e.

Another object of the invention is to provide a casing tor the licenseplate of a motor Vehicle which is so arranged that a light may shinethrough the plate.

And a further object of the invention is to provide a signal that may beplaced at either end oi a motor Vehicle which combines-i the licensewith signals.

With. these ends in View the invention embodies l casing having; aplurality oi coinpartments therein, means in the compartments torholdinp; plates havinp characters stamped therethrough, lamps in thecomparh merits and means for lightin and extinguishinn the lamps troinremote points.

()ther leatures and advantages oi" the invention will appear from the,olowing do scription taken in connection with the orawinns, whereinFigure I is a tront View oi the casing. Figure 2 is a view showing asectional plan. llig ure 3 is a cross section through the casing".

Figure l is a View showing the method oi binding the edges oi. the glassin. the front oil the casing.

Figure 5 is a VlGW showing a glass baclo ground for a metal plate inwhich the glass extends into openings in the plate to present a smoothsurface.

In the drawing I have shown my device as it would be constructed whereinnumeral it indicates the casing, numeral 2 the tail light in the lowerpart of the casing and numeral the stop light at the top of the casing.The

casing 1 formed with a lower section 4:, two intermediate sections 5 and6 and an upper section 7 in which the stop light 3 is placed.

The lower section 4 is provided with a large compartment in which is alamp 8 and, in the trout of which the license plate 9 as shown in ligure 3 may be placed. The letter-inn; upon the plate may be stamped outand a red glass 10 may be placed behind it as shown in Figure 3. It isalso understood that this class may be moulded so that it will extendthrough the plate as shown in Figure 5 and also that the plate and assLllity be arraiured in any suitable .n'lanner. At one end of the lowerpart oi the casin 1, is a section ll. l1aving a lamp 12in it and a lens13 in its tor ward side which terms tail light 2. It is understood thatthis lens may be oil? any suitable shape or design and the lamp may beconnected in the regular tail light circuit in any suitable manner.

Above the compartment i is the compel-h ment 5 in which a plz'ite l4:n'iay be placed and held in a manner similar to that oi the plate fl andupon which plate may he the name ot a city which may be the home city ofthe car or any city that may be desired. At the ends of this compartmentare small compartments l5 and 16 in which arrow heads may he placed asl-lllOWi'l in. Figure l to iiulicate the direction the Vehicle is goingto turn. lhese compartmentz-i may be provided with indivi dual lam pswhich may be connected to any suitable switches adjacent the operator ofthe vehicle. The lenses in these openings nut he oi any suitable color;howl-war red is proit'm'able in the ricoinuartiuent l5 and green in theconlpartnient 16.

The compartment (3 is directly above the compm'lment 5 and may have thename oi? the car out directly in the front plate ii" as shown. It isunderstood that this may have a plain red glass behind it similar to theglass 10 shownin l igure 3 or may also be pro-- vided with a glass asshown in Figure 5.

llhe stop signal, which is formed in the compartment 7' and providedwith a lamp 123 may have the word Stop arranged. in any suitable mannerand the lamp 1.8 may be connected to any suitable means forautomatically lighti it as the loot bralre is applicl i It is alsounderstood that the stop signal may be arranged at any suitable point inthe easing; and'cmmected to any suitable circuit for operating it. Thecasing is arranged so that the light from the lamp 8 will be reflectedthrough the openings in, the forward sides of the compartments 5 and 6as well as the compartment 4: and the partitions 19 and 20 are omittedbetween, these compartments.

The casing is provided with lugs 2i. which may be of any suitable shapeand arranged in any suitable manner to attach the casing to any suitablepart of the vehicle. The ends of the compartments may be provided withdoors 22 as shown in Figure 2 which may be of any suitable design andarranged in any suitable manner to permit access to the compartments sothat the plates may readily vberemoved and replaced.

, InFigure'a, I'have shown a U shaped band 23 that may be placed aroundthe edge of i the glass at the front of the casing to prements or in theomission of some of the compartments, and still another may be in thearrangement of the lamps in the compartments.

The construction will be readily understood from the foregoingdescription. To use the-devicethe casing may be attached to any suitablepart of a motor vehicle and in any suitable manner and the circuits tothelamps may be arranged in any suitable manner. It will be observedthat the design shownis particularly adaptable for the rear of thevehicle and when used at the front the tail andstop lights may beomitted, or all of the compartments may be omitted except that inWhichis the license number if desired.

It will be observed that the numbers and letters may be'provided with anoutline of a dark or other color, or an aluminum frame -may'be placedover the glass as shown by the fine lines outlining the letters in theword -P V v p The glass may beformed in all of the letters as shown inFig. and may be of any suitable color.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

In a device of the class described, a. casing having a horizontalcompartment in the lower part thereof with an opening at the front,means for holding a license plate in a portion of the front openingthereof, means for holding a lens for a tail light also in the saidfront opening thereof, suitable lamps positioned behind the said licenseplate and tail light lens, a suitable concave reflector positioned inthe said compartment and cooperating with the said lamps, anotherhorizontal compartment above the said former compartment having openingsin the upper and lower sides and front thereof, a lens in the said frontopening upon which characters may be placed, a reflector in the rear ofthe said latter compartment adapted to receive rays of light from thelamps of the said lower con'lpartment and reflect them through theopening at the front of the said latter compartment, another horizontalcoinpartment above the said latter compartn'ient having an opening atthe front and in the lower side thereof, a lens in the said frontopening with lettering thereon, a reflector in the rear thereof andpositioned slightly ahead of the reflector in the adjoining compartmentand adapted to reflect rays from the lamps in the lower coi'npartnientontward through the said lens in the front thereof, and anotherhorizontal con'ipartment having'a-n opening in the front thereof inwhich a lens with suitable indications thereon may be placed andprovided with an individual lamp with suitable reflecting surfaces.

\VALTER RIEFSCHNIDER.

